Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch dies at 88

Koch was a champion of gay rights, taking on the Roman Catholic Church and scores of political leaders.

During the 1977 mayoral campaign against Mario Cuomo, posters that read, "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo" mysteriously appeared in some neighborhoods as Election Day approached.

A lifelong bachelor, Koch offered a typically blunt response to questions about his own sexuality: "My answer to questions on this subject is simply, 'F-- off.' There have to be some private matters left."

ED Koch is upset over a new documentary, "Outrage" -- not because it claims he had "a well-established affair with a man he subsequently ran out of town," as Variety reported yesterday, but because it claims "his record on AIDS and gay rights was virtually nonexistent."